A Pain in the Pullman
| runtime = | country = United States | language = English }} A Pain in the Pullman is the 16th short film released by Columbia Pictures in 1936 starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959. Plot The Stooges are small-time actors traveling by train to an engagement—and fleeing the landlady for their unpaid rent. They are told to put their pet monkey, Joe, in the baggage car, but are afraid he will get hurt. They sneak Joe onto the Southern Pacific train with them, but Joe gets loose, and they have a hard time getting up to their berth, making a lot of noise, and managing to awaken and annoy all of the train's passengers, including Mr. Paul Pain (James C. Morton) and Mr. Johnson, the stage manager and boss (Bud Jamison), the latter of which routinely hits his head on the upper berth upon awakening. Ultimately, a terrified Joe pulls the train's emergency cord, abruptly stopping the train in the process. The passengers then forcibly remove the Stooges from the train and they hobble away into the night on three cows because they were fired for making a lot of noise and for bringing their pet monkey onto the train. Production notes A Pain in the Pullman is the longest Stooge short filmed, running at 19' 46"; the shortest is Sappy Bull Fighters, running at 15' 19". Filming was completed between April 29 and May 4, 1936. This is the first short in which Moe, Larry, and Curly are actually referred to as "The Three Stooges" in the dialogue. In the scene where Curly is coughing up a piece of crab shell, the actress sitting next to him starts to crack up, a rare occurrence in a Columbia short. The closing shot of the Stooges leaping over a bush, and landing on a trio of bucking steers was reused at the end of A Ducking They Did Go. The same gag was used in the end of The Ren and Stimpy Show episode "Rubber Nipple Salesmen" (show creator John Kricfalusi was apparently a big fan of the Three Stooges, using a good number of Stooge gags as part of his tenure with Ren and Stimpy; the character of Stimpy is himself based on Larry). The plot device of performers traveling via rail and enduring sleeping hardships was previously used by Laurel and Hardy in 1929's Berth Marks. Female comedy team ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd also borrowed the plot device for their 1932 short Show Business (directed by Jules White). Gus Schilling and Richard Lane remade the film in 1947 as Training for Trouble. The name "Johnson" was shouted a total number of 10 times. Shellfish Moe Howard had fond memories of filming A Pain in the Pullman. He also recalled his intense dislike for shellfish, and how brother Curly Howard cut the inside of his mouth eating the shells from a Dungeness crab: }} References External links * * *[http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/16 A Pain in the Pullman at threestooges.net] Category:1936 films Category:1930s comedy films Category:American short films Category:American black-and-white films Category:English-language films Category:Rail transport films Category:Rail transport in fiction Category:The Three Stooges films Category:American films Category:Columbia Pictures short films Category:American slapstick comedy films